Since Thursday's signing of David Beckham, soccer, MLS and David Beckham have gotten more attention in North America than they have in...well, ever. Quite frankly, it's been downright weird for longtime soccer fans to find soccer being discussed so frequently. Here are a few examples of the mania:
[i] The story made the front page of about 79 US newspapers and even more outside the US.
[ii] The Game has challenged Beckham to a game of one-on-one soccer. When a soccer story makes it into the world of hip-hop, MLS has achieved some massive exposure.
[iii] The LA Galaxy have now sold twice as many season tickets as their previous record high (about 2/3rds down the article).
[iv] Check out the spike in traffic to MLS' website following the signing.
[v] The expansion team Toronto F.C. has sold 2,600 season tickets since the signing. They now are over 10,000 total season tickets sold and the stadium only holds 20,000 fans...and they only have about eight players so far.
[vi] Now there are reports that Dutch star defensive midfielder Edgar Davids may be signing with Dallas and Brazilian, former star, now-bloated, forward Ronaldo may be coming to NY.
[vii] Watch Beckham's interview on ESPN and the following analysis.
[viii] Beckham on Good Morning America. Almost as awkward as that Stephin Merritt morning show interview.
[ix] The slimy British tabloids have already come crawling for dirt on Beckham's new teammates. They even have a story about Becks' wife being offered a Playboy photo shoot.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Beckham Mania
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2 comments:
Wow, what would the downside be to all this attention? Thigs are looking pretty good for US soccer. Maine was pretty cool, the weather was rough.
The only downside I could see would be a spending race to bankruptcy. However, the Designated Player rule should cap that at one hideous salary per team. The question is how hideous that salary will become.
The Edgar Davids deal is the link above is talking about a $10M per year deal. That's crazy. Dallas isn't the market LA is. Beckham is closer to his prime than Davids is and Beckham is a much more marketable player.
So, if this deal spurs a bunch of dumb "$10M per year for Davids" type deals, then there could be a problem.
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